Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Brainstorming at Burger King

January 26, 2010
Tuesday 2:19pm
New Manila, Quezon City

We've been brainstorming at Burger King E. Rodriguez for more than three times now. The first time was really productive so we kept on coming back. It was also the first time that I've learned that they have such nice value-added service to their customers. No wonder, it's full of people even past its peak hours. You need not to buy any minimum order. We just had large apple juices last week and the rest was all pitching of ideas.

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Then, a girl in a therapist's uniform approached us. Even though she was in that attire, there's a logo of BK on her uniform. So, there's no doubt that she's from Burger King. She asked, "Would you like to try our free massage?" I was like, "really?" She related it's been the service of the fastfood chain for two years now. And it seems like everyone else was enjoying it. It's up to you whether you'd like to give a tip, but anyway, the service is free! They also have the usual free cellphone charging and most of it all, free wifi access.

It's definitely been a good day for brainstorming. And for that, me and my colleague officially made BK as our "bat cave."

Love,


Bella Donna

Monday, January 18, 2010

Good Old Chicken Adobo

January 18, 2010
Monday 3:33pm
New Manila, Quezon City

One of my favorite filipino dishes (aside from kare-kare). But never did I ever learn cooking it the right way. Sometimes, it's too salty--- too many soy sauce. Sometimes, too sour--- too many vinegar. So I asked the help of my brother who's learning to be a chef. We cooked this last night to have it in the morning since we can't really make breakfasts on weekdays.

So ok, we prepared the chicken, garlic, onion, bay leaf and ground black pepper. And most importantly, the soy sauce and vinegar. I used to cook chicken adobo in different ways because I never got the right formula of the best chicken adobo. Sometimes, I would saute the garlic and onion first and then the chicken and keep it searing until it becomes tender before I put the vinegar and soy sauce and the rest of the spices. Sometimes, I would just pour in the ingredients altogether and let it simmer until it's cooked but it turns out to be bland. So last night, my brother said he would boil the chicken first. After the meat is tender, we sauteed the garlic and onion. And then, we added the chicken. He added the soy sauce and vinegar according to his taste. I didn't taste it, fearing that it would be nasty again. We set it aside and washed the dishes. I went to bed after I packed my things for the week.

I got up at 5am. Took shower in haste. Change to my working clothes and sat down on the dining table to eat. Surprisingly, the adobo tastes really good. First time that we ever had a good adobo. We would fight over it because no one of us got it right but we would always cook adobo anyway. But whether we cooked the dish right or not, we would still eat whatever is prepared for the family table. The thing is, the only thing that keep us bonded is the weekend meals that we all share. And that's what really matters.

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Our good old chicken adobo. Kudos to my brother!

Love,

Bella Donna

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Apple and Strawberry in Red Wine Dessert

January 17, 2010
Sunday, 9:17pm
Cavite

I opened our ref and saw a few strawberries on a small saucer. There's still the red wine sitting at the door rack of the fridge. I washed the strawberries, opened the red wine and chopped a red apple together with these few left-over berries. Put the fruits in a small bowl, sprinkle a little of brown sugar and poured in a small amount of red wine, put it in the freezer. We ate dinner. The usual homecooking dish--- fried fish and sauteed sayote with ensaladang indian mango. After dinner, I took the bowl form the freezer and asked each member of my family to dig in. My mom said, she didn't like to palpitate because of the wine. I said it was ok just taste it. Before you know it, she was eating the dessert double time. Hahaha... It's something new for my family. My mom said, we should make something like that for my Tito's wedding on February. Oh well, maybe...

Here's a photo of what I made this weekend.

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Find out some more eats I make every weekend with my family.

Love,

Bella Donna